On Wednesday, Singh will face off in Rio de Janeiro against Popole Misenga, an athlete from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who is competing as part of the Refugee Olympic Team in the 90-kilogram category.

Win or lose, Singh is an inspiration to Rohit and the roughly 150 other boys who train daily at the rudimentary judo center inside the colonial-era, redbrick Government Model Senior Secondary School in Gurdaspur, in the northern state of Punjab.

“This is great for us,” said Rohit, who uses a single name. “Now the whole world will know that Gurdaspur has produced an Olympian.”